The use of government money to lobby government and fund candidates is one of those creeping cancers on democracy it is too easy to ignore. Until it is too late. Perhaps it already is: there certainly seems to be a lot of permanent government in place…

In the movie The Godfather Part II, there’s a bloody scene in a bordello where the Corleones are trying to corrupt a senator who’s giving them trouble. They frame the senator for the murder of a prostitute. In trying to lure the senator into making a deal with them, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) utters one of the most chilling and evil justifications you’ll ever hear:

“This girl has no family — nobody knows that she worked here. It’ll be as if she never existed.”

That’s the same justification behind abortion: it’ll be as if the fetus never existed. Don’t worry, no one will know. It’s just a bunch of cells, has no face, no brain, no voice … not a real person … it’ll be as if she never existed.

genferei: The use of government money to lobby government and fund candidates is one of those creeping cancers on democracy it is too easy to ignore. Until it is too late. Perhaps it already is: there certainly seems to be a lot of permanent government in place… · 6 minutes ago

Edited 5 minutes ago

Oh, they don’t use your money for the lobbying, I don’t think. They use it to pay for everything at the Planned Parenthood except for abortions. How does this work? Well, see, you may be lighting and heating and staffing the joint, but you’re not killing the unborn child. Trust us.

There was a spokesperson for PP on O’Reilly last night – Cristina Page – who turned visibly redder and redder as she lied about PP’s funding. She should stick to radio appearances, or at least wear a turtleneck next time.

Pencilvania: There was a spokesperson for PP on O’Reilly last night – Cristina Page – who turned visibly redder and redder as she lied about PP’s funding. She should stick to radio appearances, or at least wear a turtleneck next time. · 1 hour ago

Something I’ve noticed about PP is that when they’re being criticized, they refer to the organization as a healthcare provider only, but when they’re promoting themselves, they refer to their political advocacy work foremost. In addition to the audit over use of taxpayer dollars for abortion, I’d like to see an audit of whether taxpayers dollars support their political wing. The medical and political branches share a CEO, offices, and HR portal — and that’s what I found in five minutes on their sites. What other expenses might they be sharing, and is the law clear on this?

It is critical to a working democracy that its public institutions work (if about 50 percent of an organization’s revenues are direct subsidies from government, then I think we can legitimately call it a “public institution”). These institutions can’t manage health care, financial markets, pothole repair, or education, but the American public can be proud that Planned Parenthood is so efficient and responsive. Destroying fetuses appears to be one of government’s core competencies.

genferei: The use of government money to lobby government and fund candidates is one of those creeping cancers on democracy it is too easy to ignore. Until it is too late. Perhaps it already is: there certainly seems to be a lot of permanent government in place… · 6 minutes ago

Edited 5 minutes ago

Oh, they don’t use your money for the lobbying, I don’t think. They use it to pay for everything at the Planned Parenthood except for abortions. How does this work? Well, see, you may be lighting and heating and staffing the joint, but you’re not killing the unborn child. Trust us. · 1 hour ago

Also post-op, distribution of $5 condoms, “doctor visit” when you pick up prescriptions from the desk, and unwanted pregnancy tests. (Oh, but they paid back, like, half of the illegal charges they were caught making….)